Remember Me Forever
by Astrid Starlight
Summary: What happens when Jace Herondale stumbles upon a baby laying on the Institute steps, a snowy Christmas morning? (Disclaimer: called fanfiction for a reason)
1. Christmas Surprise

**Hey guys, so if you've been reading my other story you know I disappeared off the face of the earth for like a year and probably wondering what the heck I was doing. This was one of the things I was doing. Enjoy and love y'all!**

Jace yawned and rolled over to look at the clock on his bedside table. It was 7:15 and the sun was just coming up. Usually, he would have woken up earlier, but last night he had been drinking, and now he had a bit of a hangover. Nothing an iratze couldn't fix, though. He quietly got up, careful not disturb his wife and sleeping child. Alexis, like any one-year-old child, favored waking up crying at three in the morning. Despite being a shadowhunter used to rising early, being awake from 3:00-4:00 a.m. did not do best with getting up later at 6:00. Alexis was surprisingly quiet last night. Jace wanted to let Clary sleep in as much as she wanted, considering she had also been drinking. Didn't the Simon always say "happy wife, happy life", or something like that?

It was Christmas morning. And there were a couple of last minute gifts that were at Alec and Magnus's apartment that he needed to get. Jace got dressed, applied an iratze, before grabbing his jacket, wallet, keys, a couple seraph blades, a witchlight, and a stele. They were always good to have handy even if he wasn't out on patrol. It looked bitter and windy outside, as he looked out the kitchen window, sipping some coffee. He applied a thermal rune before taking the elevator downstairs. Pulling on his jacket, he opened the Institute door. That's when he almost stepped on it.

Jace leaped back, his hand reaching for his seraph blade. Few things ever caught him off guard like that. Almost stepping on something so early in the morning was an exception. There was an odd pile of snow in front of the door with something light blue hidden underneath it. Cautiously approaching it, he brushed the snow off to reveal a bundled up blanket. He wondered how the blanket ended up on the steps and did a double take when it moved, almost leaping back again. With a sudden horror, he realized that there was a child wrapped in the blanket.

Quickly picking the child up, Jace look at it to make sure it was still alive, which he realized was stupid as it moved a second ago. Looking around he couldn't see anyone who might know where the child came from, or who placed him on the steps. The child began to make soft whimpering noises. The blanket was cold and wet from the melted snow, and the poor thing was visibly shivering. Jace quickly carried the child inside, taking him to the living room. He laid the child gently down in front of the fireplace and started a fire to warm it up.

Unwrapping the wet blanket, Jace looked the baby over for any injuries or warlock's mark. He couldn't find any at first and the boy was too thin for his liking, though he seemed to be a blueish color. He suspected that it was probably from being so cold. The boy whimpers again, still shivering and Jace grabbed a towel from the bathroom to wrap him in. Upon returning, the boy had regained some natural coloring and he didn't look so blue. He checked the child again. The boy was still freezing and shivering and he still didn't have an obvious warlock's mark.

Trying to warm the poor child up a bit, Jace dried him off. He wondered who placed a baby on the steps, and how long the boy had been laying there. Checking the child again, he still couldn't find a warlock's mark. Though the child seemed healthy, despite being obviously underfed. He had no clue why a mundane would leave the kid abandoned on the steps of what appeared to be an old church. His mind wandered a little and Max popped into his head. When the Max was discovered at the steps of the Academy, everyone was surprised. But Max was an obvious navy blue, a clear warlock's mark.

Jace still couldn't find anything obvious on the child. He wondered if the mark was something less obvious like Magnus's, cat eyes and a missing navel. But then again, didn't Magnus say his mark hadn't shown up until later? (Which had led to his mother attempting to drown him). Looking the baby over one last time, searching for something smaller, he found nothing. There were no scales or budding horns. The boy hadn't opened his eyes yet, but Jace had never heard of a warlock having such a small mark. There was Tessa who was a warlock with no mark. And also happened to be his great-great-great-great-grandmother or something. Tessa was so odd (and also married to former Silent Brother Zachariah) and Jace was unsure if she counted.

The boy made another whimpering sound and Jace gently rocked him in his arms. "Shh," he said, trying to comfort the boy. "It's okay now, you're okay now." The boy calmed down for a little bit before starting up again. Jace realized that the baby was probably hungry, which lead to a problem. Clary breastfed Alexis. Although Alexis was now starting to eat food, the boy was not old enough to be off of milk. That kind of meant waking his wife, or calling someone and asking them to bring some formula over. Which required explaining on why, and Clary would be woken through the process anyways.

Jace sighed and wrapped the boy snuggly in the towel to keep him from moving. He was about to get up to get Clary when she walked into the room, still in her pajamas with a robe on. Alexis was balanced on her hip. "Jace," she said groggily, yawning slightly. "What are you doing?"

"I almost stepped on a baby laying on the front steps of the Institute," Jace said flatly, deciding there was no other way to tell her. "I think he might be a mundane, I can't find a warlock's mark."

Clary was silently stunned for a minute. "You did what?"

"Exactly what I said." Jace said showing her the baby. "The poor boy was freezing and wet so I took him in here and dried him off. He's probably hungry, though. I was about to go wake you." There was a long silence as Clary processed what he had just said. She looked at him holding the baby for a good solid minute, deciding if what she was seeing was real. The boy whimpered again finally convincing her it was real.

"Another baby?" she asked. "Like Max?" Jace nodded. She walked over and sat down next to him. Alexis suddenly taking interest in the new thing and dropped her teething toy. "Let me see him," Clary said softly, taking the baby in her arms. Jace picked up Alexis, who was still more interested in the new baby.

Clary gently unwrapped the towel from around the boy and looked him over a couple of times. After being satisfied with what she saw, she unbuttoned her shirt and began to feed him. The boy sucked hungrily at her breast. Alexis stared at him. She'd never seen her mommy feed anyone else, Jace thought with slight amusement. "Poor baby," Clary cooed, cradling his head. "Practically starving. When was the last time you were fed?" it wasn't a question Jace was too fond to think of.

"I'll go fix breakfast and feed Alexis," Jace says getting up, as Clary continued to feed the baby. He got up and carried Alexis to the kitchen.

Now distracted by her new surroundings, Alexis started to babble as Jace set her in her highchair. Setting a bowl of cheerios in front of her, he began to make breakfast. Everyone was coming over later for brunch. Jace had taken up the responsibility for making it all to prevent Izzy from bringing anything. Pregnancy was not helping her taste. Starting on the pancake batter, he supposed he should call Alec and Izzy, tell them what happened. Putting the phone on speaker, he dialed Alec's number first. It took Alec about forty-five seconds to answer.

"Jace, what is it?" Alec asked, obviously annoyed. He could hear Magnus complaining in the background.

"Oh no," Jace answered sarcastically. "Have I interrupted Christmas morning sex?" he asks. Last year Rafe and Max had woken up at 6:30 and almost walked in on something. This year, Magnus had joked about sneaking both children a melatonin to keep them asleep. Judging by the lack of little kid squealing, Magnus had actually done something.

"Jace," Alec said, and the blonde could hear his parabatai losing his patience. "I swear, Sebastian better have come back from the dead or I'll-"

"Happy Christmas morning to you too." Jace quickly said, cutting him off. He could still hear Magnus and tried not to imagine the two naked. "Look, I might have run into a predicament and I thought you two might deserve to know before you came over."

There was a long pause. "Jace," Alec's voice sounded deadly enough to send Lilith back to Edom. "What 'predicament' have you gotten yourself into?" Magnus was talking again, probably trying to convince Alec to just hang up.

"Well, it involves a baby that I almost stepped on," Jace said, quickly attempting to convince his parabatai to listen.

"Oh Raziel, Jace! Did you step on Alexis?!" there was panic in Alec's voice now. And Magnus's voice, genuinely concerned could be depicted in the background.

"No Alec, I did not step on my own daughter. Quite frankly that's a little insulting. No, I'm talking about the baby I found on the front steps of the Institute. He was just left there without a note. I can't find a mark, I think he might be a mundane."

Alec didn't speak back into the phone speaker for a while. He could hear him talking to Magnus but couldn't hear exactly what they were saying. "We'll be right over." He suddenly said, surprising Jace.

"No, you don't have to do that. I was just telling so that-" there was a click, Alec had hung up. Jace sighed. He had better call Izzy before Magnus or Alec did and caused everyone to panic. Alexis was finished and Jace cleaned out her bowl while he waited for Izzy to answer. It took her so long that he was about to hang up and call back. His lovely adopted sister sounded as mad as her brother.

Clary walked in with the boy as Jace was starting to pour the pancake batter. "Here," she said. "I'll do that while you talk to them or you'll burn the whole Institute down." Jace didn't argue as he took his phone off speaker and walked into the living room.

"Jace, what do you want?" Isabelle Lightwood hissed through the phone.

"Oh no, I interrupted your Christmas morning sex too, didn't I?" Jace teased. By the lack of response, he took that as a yes. His lovely sister was only four months in, and she still looked stunning as ever. But Simon was still trying to get in as much as he could before they couldn't anymore. "I'm sorry Iz, I really am," Jace said, hoping he sounded as apologetic as he was. "You know I wouldn't call unless it was really important."

Izzy was silent again. He was pretty sure he could hear Simon complaining in the background like Magnus. "Jace, hurry up. I'm giving you three seconds." She said, irritation still dripping from her voice.

"Gosh, you're worse than Alec. Look, I just thought you deserved to know, when you come over there might be an extra baby. Because I might have almost-" he was cut off by a phone ringing. Simon answered the phone and Izzy stopped listening to Jace. Sure enough, it was Magnus calling Simon because Alec couldn't get ahold of Izzy. Jace only knew this because there was sudden yelling about a baby. Izzy yelled back that Jace was talking about a baby. Soon enough Izzy was yelling into the phone.

"YOU STEPPED ON A BABY ON THE INSTITUTE STEPS?!" Jace flinched as her voice came through and held the phone away. There was yelling at Simon to get his clothes on, that picture was definitely not going to leave his head soon.

"I didn't step on him, I almost stepped-" it was useless to explain. Izzy wasn't listening and promptly hung up. He groaned and walked back into the kitchen. Clary was flipping pancakes.

"So how did it go?" she asked, a smile on her lips.

"They're coming right over," Jace said, rolling his eyes as his wife's amusement. "I say I almost step on a baby and they act like Sebastian has come back from the dead again." Clary snorts.

"So we can expect them in about twenty minutes?"

"Probably" Jace muttered. "Unless Magnus decides to portal here. Alec started panicking, Magnus called Simon, Izzy started panicking. They're going to call Maryse and Robert- oh Raziel! I'm going to have to call them too now!" Clary laughed and as if on cue Jace's phone rang, sure enough, it was Maryse.

"Go deal with everyone while I make bacon," Clary said, still giggling. Groaning again, Jace walked into the living room to take the call.

To say Maryse Lightwood was in a panic was an understatement. Apparently, Alec and Izzy had called both parents and now it was a literal game or telephone. "JACE WHAT DOES IZZY MEAN YOU STEPPED ON A BABY?!" Maryse shrieked into the phone. From what he could hear between the yelling in the background someone was still on the phone with Robert.

"I didn't step on him! I found him on the steps and-"

"Is the poor baby alive?! It's so cold outside it could have frozen to death! Jace, you didn't leave the poor thing outside did you?!" Jace groaned. He regretted telling anyone anything. Between Magnus and Izzy's exaggeration, things were quickly becoming a giant mess.

"No, I did not leave him outside, he's with Clary." Jace groaned and hung up. Grumbling under his breath, he made a group call with everyone on it. "EVERYONE SHUT UP!" he yelled through the phone. It worked surprisingly effectively. "Thank you," he said, glad it had worked. "Now, I'm going to tell you what actually happened. You are all going to stay quiet while I explain and no one is coming here before ten o'clock. Understand?" there was a moment of silence and he continued. "Okay, I know everyone is gossiping and it's all a telephone game of he said she said. But whatever you've heard, ninety-nine percent of it is not true. I found a baby on the Institute steps, you'll be able to see him when you come over. Clary has him, he's fine. I did NOT step on him, thank you very much. I might have almost, but I didn't. To be fair he was covered in snow. Like I said earlier, he's fine now. Do not call the Clave. And no more talking to each other before you get here. Thank you, and goodbye." With that, Jace hung up the phone.

"So how did it go?" Clary asked from the kitchen. No doubt she had heard the whole thing.

"You mean you didn't here?" he teased, walking back into the kitchen. She was almost finished with the bacon. "They're coming over at ten, how's the baby?"

"Fine, he's barely made a sound since I feed him. I think he's sleeping now. Alexis is playing with her teething toy." Jace looked over at the crib shoved to the corner of the kitchen. Alexis was happily gnawing on a teething ring, another toy in hand. The baby was laying still bundled up right next to her. Walking over he appeared to be asleep, unbothered by the rattle and Alexis's babble.

"Daddy!" she said, spotting her father. She dropped the teething ring and the rattle, holding her arms out to be picked up. Jace grinned and happily obliged to her request.

"Hey Lexis," Jace says softly, balancing her on his hip, rocking her. "What do you think of your new companion?" he asked as they both looked down at the sleeping boy. "Yeah, he came as a surprise to us all." The boy shifted a little in his sleep and Jace smiled. Alexis babbled something, tugging on his hair. "Okay, okay, I get it. You don't really like him stealing all the attention do you?" she giggled and continued to tug lightly on his hair. "You think Rafe and Max will like him?" he asked, continuing to talk to her. "You're not old enough to understand or have a say, no offense, but Max can talk, and Rafe knows English now." He could see Clary watching him from the corner of her eye, smiling. She loved to watch him play with the kids. Alexis continued to babble as he played with her.

Looking at the clock it was 9:30. Everyone would arrive at 10:00 sharp, Jace was sure of. He set Alexis down and helped Clary set the table for breakfast. Sure enough, as soon as the clock turned 10:00 the Institute door opened. Jace could hear everyone coming up the elevator. "I think they waited outside the door for fifteen minutes." Clary teased as Jace rolled his eyes, but it was probably true. He handed Alexis to Clary and picked up the boy as everyone walked through the door. Of course, they were all talking at once and it was about the baby.

"Oh let me see him," Maryse Lightwood said, pushing her way past everyone. Rafe and Max were already sitting at the table, serving themselves. Taking the baby from Jace's arms, Maryse examined him before handing him to Robert. The cycle began as everyone had to look at the baby before handing him off. By the time he was finally handed back to Jace, Magnus was on the phone with Tessa and Catarina.

"And you just found him on the steps of the Institute?" Alec asked, as everyone finally settled down for breakfast. Max and Rafe were playing with Alexis in the living room while the adults talked. Jace nodded.

"He was covered by the snow, it's why I almost stepped on him. There was no note or anything explaining him. You can all look again, but I can't find a warlock's mark. Since he was abandoned like that I think he might be a mundane."

"Probably," Magnus said getting off of the phone. "Considering how underfeed he was. I was surprised that was all. Tessa, Jem, and Catarina will be over at one."

"But why would anyone just drop a baby like that?" Izzy asked horrified. "Max was left on the steps of the Academy. And he had a note. Rafe was born during the Dark War, so that's an exception."

"I don't know Izzy," Alec said. "But now we've got to figure out what to do with him. Do we just drop him off at a mundane orphanage, or try to keep him? And if we want to keep him, will the Clave let us? I mean, we just found him abandon, it's not like we found him wondering around with the Sight. What if he doesn't have the Sight? Then what?"

"You always worry too much about stuff Alec," Jace said, cleaning up the plates. "Right now, let's just get him taken care of and worry about the Clave later."

"I want to keep him," Izzy said promptly. "Simon and I can adopt him. We're already going to have a baby, might as well have two. Alec and Magnus already have two kids. Raziel knows what would happen if they requested to adopt a mundane as well."

"Izzy!" Simon said horrified. "We can't just suddenly take in a baby! We're not even ready for the one we're about to have! Let your brother take him, Rafe and Max already think that's how babies happen anyways. It's not going to be much different to them."

"Clary and I will keep the baby for the time being," Jace said, leaving no room for discussion. Hopefully, Clary wouldn't kill him for it later. "Alexis is at the moment the closest age to him, it won't be that big of a deal for us to take another baby." That was a straight up lie and everyone knew that, but Magnus and Alec looked iffy about taking another baby.

"I think Jace is right," Alec said. "I mean, Rafe is almost nine, and Max is almost seven. We don't know how they'd react to having a baby join the family. Plus, the Clave probably wouldn't' allow it."

Jace could see Magnus reach for his partner's hand underneath the table.

"Well if we're going to keep him, we need to name him. At least temporarily. We can't just not name him." Clary said, having a good point. Everyone was quiet for a minute.

"We could name him Jordan?" Simon suggested.

"No, I think that would either be for you and Izzy, or for Maia and Bat," Clary said, and everyone agreed.

"I would suggest Will, but that would be for Tessa and Jem," Magnus said. "Henry or Charles doesn't work because he doesn't have red hair. Edmund maybe, Stephen would be a touchy subject. And your mother's already claimed Jonathan. Which is ridiculous because the kid is _not_ going to have blonde hair."

Clary was going to have a little brother that Jocelyn was insisting on naming Jonathan. He was going to be the same age as Izzy and Simon's girl, Cassandra. It was weird, but no one talked about it. Anytime Jace teased Clary about it, she responded with "Tessa", abruptly ending any further argument. "We don't know his eye color yet," Clary said. "He hasn't opened his eyes yet. Maybe that's his warlock's mark."

"But he has a navel," Alec said. "Magnus didn't have one by that point."

"What about horns?" Izzy asked. "He could have horns, Max's didn't show up until later."

"But he's a normal color." Jace pointed out. "That would be weird on many different levels."

"He could sprout wings."

"I'll pay you fifty dollars if he sprouts wings, Izzy."

"Elias had bat wings," Magnus said.

"And webbed hands." Jace reminded him.

"What if he had demon eyes?" Izzy said.

"Define demon eyes," Magnus said, sounding undignified.

"Well I mean they could be cat eyes, but like black like Sebastian's, or red. Or completely white."

"Let's not talk about Sebastian's eyes." Clary quickly said.

"I think if he were to have Sebastian's eyes the Clave would perform and exorcism. Then throw him off a building."

"So much for naming him, Jonathan," Magnus said sarcastically. The boy stirred as if knowing what they were talking about.

"And Kit eliminates Christopher," Alec said, picking the baby up.

"Michael's a nice name," Simon said. Magnus coughed something that sounded like "Trace Waybread". "Oh right," Simon muttered.

"We'll ask Tessa when she gets here," Magnus said, and they all agreed on that.

Breakfast was finished and everyone went into the living room. The poor unnamed baby was passed around and Jace was surprised he didn't wake up crying. The Max and Rafe got a few weapons and toys, Alexis got toys and a paint set Simon had helped Jace find online, Izzy and Simon were given some baby stuff. The children were playing with their gifts when Tessa and Jem arrived with Catarina.

"What is this baby Magnus is talking about?" Catarina asked, walking in. Izzy handed her the baby. The three newcomers looked the baby up and down as well. "He seems to be fine. Underfed, but otherwise perfectly healthy. And you're right. There isn't a warlock's mark I can find. What are you going to do with him?"

"Clary and I are planning on keeping him. At least until we figure out what to do with him." Jace explained. "We might adopt him if the Clave will let us."

"You're going to adopt a mundane?" Tessa asked, holding the baby close to her. It was a well-known fact that they were considering having children of their own. And people thought it was weird Clary's brother was going to be the same age as her daughter. "What are you going to name him?"

"Well, that's the problem. We can't decide. The best thing we have at the moment is Edmund."

"Edmund Herondale," Jem mused softly. "What do you think Tessa?"

She chuckled softly, "Doesn't seem much like an Edmund to me." She said as the baby began to stir. "I think he agrees."

"What about James?" Simon suggested and Magnus hit him over the head.

"Jamie Herondale," Tessa muttered. "It's been a while since there was a Jamie."

Simon was about to open his mouth again. Robert quickly said, "Why not Gabriel?" Jace had heard the name before, he was one of the Lightwood ancestors. If his memory served him right Gabriel Lightwood was actually alive at the same age Tessa and Jem were.

"Of course you would offer up that name, Robert," Magnus said amused. "Gabriel Lightworm, very important ancestor of yours. I mean- whoops." Magnus pretended to look embarrassed. Robert and Maryse looked taken back, Alec and Izzy didn't get it.

Tessa and Jem on the other hand burst out laughing. "Could you imagine?" she asked between laughs. "A Gabriel Herondale?"

"Both of them are rolling in their graves at just the mention of it," Jem said. "Cicely probably has them both by the ear."

"Okay, so not Gabriel then," Jace said, not getting the joke either, as the couple's laughs die down. "Well, we're starting to run out of names. He might just have to deal with Edmund."

"Jacob's a good name." Jem offered, but Tessa made a face.

"He's not a Jacob." She looked down at the boy for a moment. "How about Thomas?"

"I like Thomas," Clary said. "And it's the best thing so far."

"I like it too." Jace agreed.

"Thomas it is then!" Magnus said. "Thomas Herondale. I think that's a first."

"Don't forget a middle name," Izzy said.

"Jesse?" Clary proposed. Alec shook his head.

"Thomas Jesse?" he asked. "Doesn't have a nice ring to it."

"I think Thomas Gabriel has a nice ring to it," Izzy said, Jem snorted.

"You should name him that just to spite them off," he said. "What do you think Tessa?"

Tessa was too busy laughing to say she agreed, but everyone took it as a yes.

"There," Clary said, taking the baby from Tessa. "Thomas Gabriel Herondale. I think it suits him."

"What about Bufford?" Jace said, just trying to be annoying.

"No," Clary said, sending him a terrifying look. "We are not naming the child Bufford." This sent another laugh through Magnus, Jem, and Tessa.

"Fine," Jace muttered, holding his hands up in surrender.

"I think we should just keep it at Thomas Gabriel," Alec said.

"What do you think?" Clary asked the little boy who had woken up. "Do you like that name? Cause it's going to be yours now. Thomas, how do you like that?" he made a little sound and everyone smiled. "I think that's a yes." She said, gently rocking him in her arms. "My Thomas," she whispered. "My Thomas." He let out a small whimper. "Oh, I think someone's hungry again. I'll be right back." She walked out of the room, still rocking him in her arms.

"Glad to know Clary's okay with adopting the baby," Simon said, walking back into the room. "You're going to have to go shopping, though. You don't have any boy clothes."

"I'll leave that to Clary and Mr. Epitome of Fashion," Jace said sarcastically. Magnus looked pleased with this. "Remember, I'm sending Clary with you. Just because you're gay doesn't mean I'm giving you free reign."

"I'm bisexual, actually," Magnus said, but no one was listening.

"Should I warn the Clave of your intentions?" Robert asked. Being Inquisitor, Jace hoped his adoptive father could persuade the Clave into letting them keep the boy.

"You think you could convince Jia that this is a good idea?" he asked.

"To be fair, I'm not sure it will really matter what she thinks. We all know you're going to find a way to do it anyway even if it means sneaking." Everyone silently agreed, Jace's and Clary's stubbornness was famous and combined pretty much unstoppable.

Clary walked back in with a very happy baby, quietly babbling softly and incoherently. "All fed now," she said smiling, Jace thought she almost appeared to be glowing. They had discussed having another baby. But it had never gotten much farther than a suggestion. Now they suddenly had a baby, just like that, no discussion.

"I will come by to check on him, say, next week?" Catarina said as she prepared to leave. "He should be fine, he seemed healthy, just feed him properly. But if any problems arise, we will want to catch them immediately." And with that, she was gone.

"I suppose Jem and I should be on our way too," Tessa said. "Jocelyn and Luke are coming over?" Clary nodded. Telling his mother-in-law about the baby on the steps wasn't something Jace wanted to deal with. "Well, we'll be going then. Give my regards to Jocelyn, and congratulations on the little brother Clary." There were awkward smiles as they left.

"What are you going to tell the in-laws?" Alec asked, not hiding his amusement.

"Nothing," Jace said simply. "I'm going to tell her what happened, what we plan to do and tell her to deal with it. Respectfully, of course, Clary can take up any arguments, maybe Simon if we really need him."

"I am not fighting your battles for you, Jace," Simon said but Jace ignored him.

"In the meantime," Izzy said. "Let's get the kids settled down for a nap and get the place ready for Jocelyn and Luke." Everyone nodded and got to work.

Alec put Rafe and Max up. Clary put Alexis and Thomas up. Alexis would have to deal with sharing a crib for the time being. The children were soon sleeping soundly, being recharged to consume more sugar and presents.

When Jocelyn and Luke arrived at about 4:30. It woke the kids up, doing away with the lovely silence. Jace was forced to introduce Thomas to his other grandmother.

"What's this?" she asked, as Luke unpacked all the stuff. "It looks like a baby, is it a toy? Did Alec and Magnus adopt again."

"No actually," Jace said, facing his mother-in-law. He felt still hadn't approved of his marrying her daughter. He was raised by the same man she ran away from. But Jace was working hard to prove to her that he was a better man than Valentine. "This is Thomas. We- or I, found him on the front steps of the Institute this morning. We think there's a good chance he's a mundane since we can't find a mark. Clary and I are planning to adopt him."

"You're going to try to adopt a baby?" she asked. By this point, Luke had walked in and was being updated on the situation.

"We wish to adopt him, we've already named him. We're prepared to fight to adopt him. You can see him if you want, in case you're still not convinced. Clary's already breastfed him if that makes any difference."

Jocelyn stared at him for a full minute. "I would in fact like to see him, thank-you-very-much Jace." She said. Clary handed her mother the baby. "He is pretty cute." She muttered, after holding him for a second. He makes a noise and Jace could see her giving in. "Fine," she said eventually. "But I do not encourage, nor will I help you with something illegal. Like continuing to raise a mundane child without the Clave's permission."

"Can't promise anything," Jace said, knowing how much she hated it. "We're going to try to get the Clave's approval first. If that makes you feel any better."

"Why would you adopt him if you thought he was a mundane?" she asked. A popular question is seemed. "There's the whole problem with Assenting, you couldn't train him like a Shadowhunter, which would probably be a nightmare for you, Jace, but do you think the Clave would allow you to raise a mundane when you can reproduce?"

"We already have Alexis, and that doesn't mean we'll suddenly stop having kids." He said, but she still looked unconvinced. "Fine, plan B is to give him to Alec and Magnus. Better?" she said nothing but nodded slightly.

She handed the boy to Clary, who was happy to have her new baby back. Rafe and Max ran in laughing and Jace went to get Alexis. "Did you bring gifts?" Max asked giggling.

"Max!" Alec scolded. "Auntie Jocelyn is not just for presents, she likes to see you and love you like Grandma and Grandpa."

"She knows we love her," Rafe said, grinning as she bent down and hugged them both.

"Yeah, love me when I bring new stuff to play with." She teased, kissing them each on the nose.

"We love you." Max and Rafe said in unison giggling. And they go to hug Luke.

"Come on," she said, ushering the boys into the living room. "We've all got some catching up to do. What do you think of your new cousin?"

Rafe and Max started talking about they thought it would be fun. But they didn't really understand and quickly forgot what they were talking about. Jace smiled and wrapped an arm around Clary's waist as they all walked into the living room.

"He's so quiet," Clary whispered to Jace so no one else could hear. "I'm almost not sure how natural it is. Mom said Sebastian never cried. I mean, obviously he makes noise, but he hasn't cried once this whole time."

Jace thought for a moment, understanding what she was saying. "The little guy's probably just in shock. But you're right. If he doesn't start crying and stuff within the next few days we'll have Catarina examine him again." She nodded and continued to gently rock the baby.

"What do you think, Tommy?" she cooed softly. "You have a mommy, a daddy, a sister, and a giant extended family all in one day. And on Christmas too." Thomas made a small noise and shifted slightly, but made no other noise. Alexis began to babble, not understanding the sudden lack of attention.

"And poor Alexis is going to have to share the attention now. So used to being the only baby. Well now there's one more and soon there's going to be too." He smiled and kissed her on the nose.

"Daddy!" she giggled, clapping her hands. "Daddy daddy daddy!" she continued to babble. "Mommy daddy!"

"Daddy, yeah, "he says smiling." Mommy and Daddy. Can you say Lexis?"

"Lec'sis!" she said giggling.

"What about Tommy? Can you say Tommy?" he asked and Clary laughed at him. "What do you think of your new brother Lexis? Hmm? Do you like him? I know it'll be an adjustment for you, it's a big adjustment for us all. But hopefully, it all works out."

"Trade now," Clary said handing him Thomas. "How's my other baby doing?" she asked taking Alexis. The baby girl giggled as her mother kissed her. Jace took the boy in his arms and gently rocked him. He squirmed a little but other than that did nothing. They walked into the room as Rafe and Max were about to open more presents.

Cameras were out and Jace grinned. The two children were spoiled rotten and they both knew it. Both boys had accumulated a fair amount of presents throughout the day. Simon, Izzy, Luke, and Jocelyn both received baby stuff. Magnus and Alec got a few things, mainly clothing and gag gifts. Jace got weapons and Clary got art supplies.

By the time everyone was gone it was almost midnight. Clary and Jace walked into Alexis's room where they were keeping both children for the time being. They had been put up at about 8:00, and they were probably hungry now and needed a change. Thomas was in one of Alexis's old onesies and had remained asleep for most of the time, only stirring when he was hungry. The boy had yet to open his eyes. Clary picked up Alexis to feed her and Jace took Thomas to be changed. That's when the baby finally opened his eyes.

Jace almost dropped him because the color was far from what he expected. They were gold. Jacce's eyes were gold as well, but the boy's were a luminous almost glowing gold, like they let off a light of their own, the way a cat's seem to glow in the dark by refracting just the smallest bits of light. "Clary" Jace called his wife softly, not sure if he was imagining it, he wouldn't put it above Simon to slip a little faerie dust into one of his drinks. She set Alexis down and walked over, wondering what Jace wanted before gasping.

"His eyes!" she whispered. "They're gold." Gold in a way Jace's weren't. Everything about Jace was golden, his eyes, his hair, his skin. But they were slightly more human-like if you could say that. His hair was golden blonde, his skin had a slight tan to it that was exaggerated by the "glowing aura" that Herondales gave off, according to Magnus and Tessa, and his eyes were a bronze-golden color. A tawny amber that Jace was told he had inherited them from his great-great grandfather James Herondale. But Thomas's eyes were actually gold. Like his irises had been sculpted from twenty-four karat gold, soft and luminescent.

Clary took the baby boy to feed him, while also examining him. After she was finished she handed him back to Jace. He took the onesie off the baby to change him. He flipped him over and noticed something that was definitely not there in the morning when Jace had first checked him for a warlock's mark, or through the rest of the day. "Um," Jace stammered, "I think he grew wings as well." His wife gave him a look that said she thought he was joking before coming to see for herself.

"Raziel, you're right," she said, looking down at the boy. "I think you owe Izzy fifty bucks now too" she teased, further examining the newly sprouted wings. They were barely more than two small tufts of white fluffy feathers. "White feathery wings" she mused. "Like an angel."

"I wonder what your mother would say about that" Jace said, then groaned. "Great, now I'm going to have to deal with Izzy. The fifty dollars will be the least of the problem. At least now we know he's a warlock. I wonder when he got the wings. They're grown pretty fast, he didn't have them before I'm sure of that."

"No, he definitely didn't have wings earlier. Mom is going to have a conniption when she learns he's a warlock. Whole new set of problems and 'why can't Alec and Magnus take the warlock baby?'" she said, and Jace groaned again.

"Your mother, don't remind me. You can tell her about the baby sprouting wings. I am not going to be in the same room as her when she finds out. She will find a way to blame it on me and I am not going to fuel it."

Clary laughed and gently rocked the baby in her arms. "What are we going to do with him, though? We can't put him back in the onesie now that he has wings. I mean, they're small now, but at the rate, they're growing it won't be true for long. I don't want him freezing to death, though."

"He can sleep in our bed for tonight while we figure out what to do with him." At that Alexis made a noise of protest. Jace smiled. "I think someone wants to join us as well."

"Of course she can," Clary says, handing Thomas to her husband and picking up her baby girl. "We'll all have a sleepover in Mommy and Daddy's bed." Alexis giggled as her parents got ready for bed.

Jace ended up with Thomas and Clary had Alexis as they climbed into bed and held his family close.

The next morning Jace woke up with Clary's hair in his face. She was sprawled halfway on top of him, Alexis laying on top of her. He panicked a second when he remembered his new second child and let out a soft breath of relief when he found the small boy tucked snuggly in his wife's arms.

Clary began to stir, probably she sensed her husband was awake. "Morning," Jace said softly as his beautiful wife opened her eyes. "Sleep well? Seems like you've ended up with both of our children." She smiled and handed him, Alexis.

"Yes, they were a bit fidgety last night and you were completely knocked out." She said, giving him a look. "Alexis grabbed one of Thomas's wings. I was a bit surprised when he didn't start screaming."

"He didn't scream?"

"No, he did start crying, but it almost seemed too easy to calm him back down. Maybe that's because I fed them both."

"Let me see him," Jace said, as the switched babies. "Clary, his wings are gone." Jace said, looking at him son.

"What are you talking aabout? He had them when I fed them both at like three in the morning while you were sleeping."

"No," Jace said, double checking. "They're gone now." As if sensing he was being talked about, Thomas opened his eyes. Jace almost dropped him. His eyes had changed from the brilliant gold to two differed colors. "His eyes changed as well. They're two different colors."

Clary took the baby boy, handing Alexis to Jace. "Well I'll be damned." She said, looking down at the boy. "His wings are gone and his eyes are blue and grey. They're still beautiful." Which was true. One eye was ash grey and the other was a brilliant blue. "I wonder what happened."

"Well don't tell Izzy that he sprouted wings at like midnight. What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"What if he sprouts them randomly? Like, what if that's why he was abandoned. He randomly sprouted them with his mundane family and they got freaked out. That's why we couldn't find anything when you first found him."

"That's an odd warlock's mark. But your theory makes pretty good sense for the most part. But I've never heard of a warlock's mark like that before."

"Hopefully they don't sprout when my mom has him. She'd have a heart attack."

"She'd give him to the Clave to perform an exorcism and throw him off a cliff." Clary rolled her eyes and hit Jace playfully. "You know I'm right, though." He said teasingly. "Are they hungry? You can feed them and I'll go fix breakfast."

Clary took Alexis and Thomas while Jace went to fix breakfast, which might end up being leftovers. He wondered if anyone would be over to train. Alec and Izzy might stop by for a while, but it was the day after Christmas. He would do some by himself or maybe with Clary if they ended up on coming.

Clary walked into the kitchen about ten minutes later with both children, who seemed to be babbling happily. Jace was glad Thomas seemed to be a little more alert now. The little boy seemed to be softly responding to Alexis's babble, Clary had put them both in onesies. "How are my babies?" Jace asked, smiling and kissing both children on the forehead.

"Good now that they've been fed. I think it's okay to put Thomas in a onesie, what do you think? Now that we know his wings are small and just appear like that. He'll be good for now at least."

"Yeah, he should be fine. We'll have to watch him, though. At least we know when his eyes turn gold, he has them."

Jace took Alexis and began to feed her a little applesauce while Clary sat down to eat. Thomas babbled quietly, looking around a little but other than that doing nothing. Jace wondered if the boy was still a little overwhelmed or if he had already forgotten everything. After Alexis was fed Jace placed her in the crib with Thomas.

Alexis seemed not terribly fond of her new brother, whom she had already recognized was taking attention away from her. She lightly whacked at Thomas's leg, as if telling him to move. Jace laughed a little and picked her up to satisfy her need for attention. "That's now how it works." He teased. "He's not going away. And actually, you're going to get more company. An uncle and a cousin. You won't be the baby anymore Lexis, you'll have to learn to share the attention."

She giggled, not understanding, and Jace chuckled. "Who's my baby girl? You are, you are." Thomas quietly occupied himself, gnawing on one of Alexis's toys. "And you're my little boy." He added, bending down and kissing the boy on the top of his head.

Clary smiled watching him. "And you're my husband," she says, walking over to kiss him. "My husband and father of my children, and a very good daddy at that." Jace gave her a crooked grin. Thomas babbled something and she picked him up. "And you're my baby boy," she cooed. "My new baby boy."

"Faster than the last one," Jace teased.

"And less painful," she added.

"You're not the one dealing with your mother," he pointed out and she rolled her eyes.

"You cannot compare my mother to pushing a seven pound baby out of your vagina, Jace," despite her attempt, the heavy sarcasm leaked though.

"I can and I just did," he said.

"You don't have experience, when you carry a baby in your uterus for and then push it out yourself, then you can make as many joke about my mother as you would like."

"Too bad that will never happen," he says triumphantly.

"I think I should have a sympathy rune so the men can truly appreciate what we go through."

All the color left Jace's face. "Not too tough now, are you?" she teases.

"I'm sorry Clary, I take everything back," Jace apologized quickly and she laughed at him.

"Exactly what I thought," she said, gently bouncing Thomas. Not terribly interested at looking around, the baby boy busied himself with playing with Clary's hair and sticking a few strands in his mouth to suck on. She continued to softly bounce him on her hip and kiss him on the head.

"Why don't we set them down in a pen and let them play with Alexis's toys while we clean up?" Jace suggested and Clary nodded.

Alexis and Thomas got sat in the play pen while Jace and Clary started to clean up. Jace kept a pristine institute so Clary let him worry about the nitpicky stuff while she got the worst of it. Alexis watched her parents while fiddling with her toys. Thomas on the other hand seemed quite content with the rattle that Alexis had not yanked away from him. Shaking it from time to time when he wasn't trying to stick it in his mouth. He looked around almost mesmerized when he shook it, occasionally reaching out like he was trying to grab something.

Jace walked over and picked the baby boy up, something Alexis did not like. She squealed in protest until Clary came over and picked her up too. Thomas, still intrigued by the rattle, shook it in Jace's ear before promptly reaching out and jabbing Jace in the eye. Clary laughed while Jace winced, as he was not expecting to be so suddenly, or so violently, poked in the eye. Curiously Thomas shook the rattle again and this time grabbed Jace's nose, then seemed content with feeling all over Jace's face occasionally whacking him with the rattle.

Jace groaned slightly as Clary continued to laugh at him. "I wonder if he can see color yet. Did Magnus say how old he was?"

Jace shook his head. "Just said a few months." Thomas his him with the rattle again and giggled. "Here, you take him mommy," Jace said holding him out. Clary rolled her eyes and traded children with Jace. Thomas repeated his process with his new person, except he didn't explore Clary's face quite so violently. "No fair," Jace pouted. "He likes you." His wife wasn't listening to him. Instead she was covering his face in kisses. Thomas was giggling happily and shaking his rattle. Alexis almost seemed to look up her father as if demanding to have the same treatment. Jace couldn't help but laugh and began covering his daughter in the kisses she wanted. Soon the whole family was on the floor in laughter. Jace pulled his wife closer to him as the kids sat on their lap. "Happy Christmas Clary," he muttered in her ear.


	2. Blind Sided Part One

**Hello lovelies! This chapter took forever to write because originally it was getting like 9,000 words so I decided to split it, which meant cutting like 3000 words and 2000 words is a lot to add when you need to pull it out of nowhere, so this chapter is actually a two-parter. So enjoy part one!**

 **Oh, and if you don't know, I have another Shadowhunters fanfic that I'm writing where Jace and Clary are in the mundane world (no Downworld at all) so if you want to check it out, I'd love that. Don't forget to review! Love y'all!!**

Unfortunately for Jace it was only a few weeks before everyone found out about Thomas's wings. Right after New Year's Izzy came over in a whirl of pregnancy hormones claiming she had felt the baby kick and now immediately had to learn how to bathe a baby. Despite having helped with her little brother Max, Alec and Magnus's Max and Rafael, and Alexis she acted like she had never done anything of the sort before and desperately needed to practice. Jace had decided that it was amusing to watch Simon attempt to control his wife and let her do what she wished with Thomas. He should have given her Alexis, but he was too caught up in making fun of Simon. The water in the kitchen had been running for about a minute to warm up when Izzy suddenly let out a shriek and Simon came rushing into the living room where Jace was playing with Alexis. "The baby has wings!" Simon cried out in an almost panic and Jace mentally cursed. It would have been funny had he not been trying to keep it a secret. Simon was rather traumatized by finding warlock babies after finding Max on the steps of the Academy five years back. Izzy came rushing in next, holding Thomas at arms' length stark naked with his wings showing, as if to prove to Jace that it was real.

"Jace! Jace your baby sprouted wings!" she exclaimed. Jace just stared and the lack of shock on his face gave it away. Izzy suddenly looked aggravated. "How long have you known?!"

"You know, like maybe one-thirty after you guys left. He gets them every-now-and-then and his eyes turn gold."

Probably not believing Jace, Izzy and Simon turned their attention from him to Thomas and stared at the baby for a full minute. "Oh my God he's right." Simon said gawking.

"You owe me fifty bucks!" Izzy said, her different reaction surprising both Jace and Simon. Jace was hoping that she would have forgotten at least momentarily with the new revelation.

"And I believe you owe me a cleaned baby." Jace said weakly. Izzy huffed and marched back into the kitchen, Simon following somewhat confused and almost in a daze. Jace let out a sigh of relief that Izzy hadn't made a bigger deal out of Thomas's not newly sprouted wings.

After the bath that apparently did not distract Izzy from the wings like Jace had hoped, Izzy walked out holding Thomas wrapped snuggly in a towel going through his routine of poking faces. "This baby has had wings for two weeks and you haven't told us?!" Izzy said sharply.

"I didn't find it necessary as he never had wings when you were around." Jace shot back smoothly, now that he was out of embarrassment for being caught in his deceit. "And to be fair some of the times I thought I was imagining the wings from faerie dust Simon might have slipped in my drink." Izzy was unamused.

"You've had a warlock baby for two weeks and you've kept it to yourself. You're going to be in so much trouble." It sounded like they were kids again and Izzy was threatening to tell on Jace. Except Jace could still get into serious trouble as Robert Lightwood was the Inquisitor. A mundane baby was one thing, but a warlock was a completely different level. Jace was more than slightly worried they would take Thomas away and do who knows what with him. It was still not the best thing that Magnus and Alec had a shadowhunter boy, what would they say about Jace and Clary having a warlock baby?

They were two shadowhunters Valentine had experimented on and injected with extra angel blood. The Clave was eager to get their hands on all the special angel babies Jace and Clary were expected to pop out. Taking in Thomas would undoubtedly lessen how many kids they would have and a warlock baby would make the situation worse.

"Izzy please," Jace begged. "Don't tell. Please. You know what could happen if the Clave found out."

Izzy looked down at Thomas who was busy chewing on her hair. Just like Max, everyone had grown overly fond of Thomas at an alarming rate. Especially Maryse and Robert who always seemed to be more than overjoyed to have another baby. She sighed. "You're lucky you're cute." She said to the baby. "Fine, I won't tell on you. But _you're_ still going to have to explain a few things to everyone."

This time it was Jace's turn to sigh. "Yes, I know. I've been thinking about how to do it. And before he sprouts wings in front of everyone too." Izzy handed Thomas back to him. The baby smiled, happy to be back in his father's arms. "What are we going to do with you?" he asked softly as Thomas giggle.

"Maybe you should have Magnus and Catarina look at him again." Simon suggested. It was the best idea so far. Jace had considered it, but it meant revealing the baby's identity so he had put it off.

"I guess I will," Jace agreed. The towel slipped revealing that the wings had been folded up or whatever happened to them and Thomas's eyes were back to blue and grey. Alexis made a noise from lack of attention and Izzy walked over to retrieve her.

"You're next," she said receiving a giggle. Whatever it was, Alexis liked attention. Her father's daughter as everyone liked to tease him about.

"Change her dipper while you're at it," Jace teased and Izzy made a face. "Hey, this is what you're signing up for. I thought you knew this stuff after you helped out so much with Max." she said nothing as she turned around and marched back into the kitchen like she was on a mission, Simon again following behind sighing.

Catarina, too, was unimpressed by Jace hiding the fact that the baby boy he found on the Institute steps had a tendency to randomly sprout wings and change his eye color. It was an odd thing to be scolded by Catarina as she wagged a disapproving blue finger in your face.

"Let me see him," she said eventually holding her arms out. Jace handed Thomas over, the boy curiously poking at her face and shaking his rattle. Thomas had quickly grown attached to the noisy toy and hardly ever let it go. Alexis hadn't seemed to mind as long as she got the attention she wanted. He was always shaking it, but not in the way a child normally would. He would shake it a coupled times then look around before shaking it again. Jace would watch him, the child could stay amused like that for hours on end.

Catarina held him like she wasn't quite sure what to do with him for a solid minute. Thankfully Thomas had his wings out so Jace could prove he wasn't playing some sort of trick like he was apparently known for doing. Eventually Catarina looked the baby over. Twice. Then she examined him with her magic. Thomas shook his rattle several times like he was examining her just as closely. Catarina eventually finished and looked curiously down at the baby warlock. "Do you know what happens to his wings when they disappear?" she asked. Jace shook his head.

"They just go away, I thought maybe he folded them up or something but they seemed to just go like they were never there." He answered. He had looked, Clary had looked. They couldn't find anything. The white feathery tufts would just appear and disappear at random.

"Make me some coffee," Catarina commanded. "We'll wait for his wings to go away and I'll take another look at him. In the meantime, is there anything else we might need to discuss?"

"Maybe why his eyes change color?" Jace suggested leading her into the kitchen. Thomas stayed in Catarina's arms, having stopped shaking his rattle and tugging at her hair. "Wings I can kind of understand, but his eyes too?"

"There is that," Catarina agreed, sitting down and bouncing Thomas in her lap. Jace knew about her prior relationships with babies. "I'm not sure I could tell you just yet. It is odd that his eyes should change color, especially to something so paranormal, I guess you could say. I would suggest a glamour but he wouldn't be old enough for that yet. I know it's rumored that some warlock's eyes glow when they do magic, but to my knowledge that's false. Magnus's eyes appear to glow because in his fancier tricks but they're just refracting the light the way a cat's would."

Knowing he was being discussed, Thomas made a small noise and reached out to Jace. Catarina handed him back and Jace ran his hands over the small feathery wing nubs. Thomas shook his rattle and reached up to examine Jace's face. The child was unusually quiet, at least compared to Alexis who was rarely ever quiet, another thing she shared with her father that people loved to teasingly point out. "If only you could talk," Jace mused kissing his son on the head. The baby responded by reaching up to grab Jace's nose, something the little boy had grown fond of along with his rattle.

"That wouldn't mean he would understand it any more than we would," Catarina pointed out. Jace opted to ignore her.

"He's a very observant child," Jace said as Thomas yet again almost whacked him in the face with the rattle while shaking it. An almost determined look crossed the baby's face and he seemed to make a sudden effort to actually hit Jace with the rattle.

"Is he?" Catarina inquired.

"Yes, he's very quiet, always listening, always watching. And he loves that rattle. He'll just sit there shaking it every few minutes or so then look around. It's fascinating to watch him." He hands the blue warlock her cup of coffee.

She smiled a little. "Curiosity is always fascinating to watch." She commented taking a sip. Thomas continued to poke Jace with the rattle.

"Is it odd for him to never talk?" Jace asked wondering if he should be worried. Thomas made a sound as if to protest causing Jace to smile. "Okay, almost never talk." Catarina shook her head.

"No, some children are like that. Just make sure he's reaching all of his mental developmental milestones though. Not talking can be a sign, but not always so don't worry about it." Jace nodded and lightly bounced Thomas as Catarina finished her coffee.

Jace ran his hand down the baby's back and noticed the wings were gone which was perfect timing as Catarina was now finished. He handed the child back to her. Thomas responded to the switch-off by poking Catarina's face and shaking his rattle.

"You're a curious little thing." She said cradling him in her arms. She examined him twice, both with and without magic. "I can't find his wings, it's like they're completely disappeared." She remarked checking him yet again. "Perhaps you should have Magnus examine him just to be sure. He might know more about this than I do knowing what his profession calls for."

Jace nodded and made a mental note to call Magnus over later. "When can we expect him to start exhibiting signs of magic?"

"It might be years depending on how strong he is. I'm sure Magnus and Max will want to play with him, but he could be very non-magical. Tessa's not particularly powerful outside of her ability." She handed Jace his baby back. Thomas whacked Jace in the head with the rattle.

"Why do you only do that to me?" Jace asked unable to hide his amusement.

"Maybe it's how he shows affection." Catarina teased. "Call me, or at least Magnus if anything happens."

"You won't tell anyone will you?" Jace asked nervously. It's not that he didn't trust Catarina, but sometimes things slipped out, and with Thomas, Jace was afraid the Clave could somehow find out and take Thomas away if everyone wasn't sworn to secrecy.

"I won't tell if they don't know about it, I promise." She said attempting to put Jace at ease. "And I would encourage you to keep Thomas away from magical influence. You don't know what it could do. I know Magnus has already been told by Alec who was told by Izzy. Magnus called me up asking if you were pulling a prank."

"Yeah, could you may be spread the word that I'm not that immature anymore?" Catarina gave him a look that reminded him of a mother. "I know it's not true but I won't do it anymore with something so serious." Catarina nodded understandingly.

"I'll tell you're not joking. You really do love that baby." She noted.

"You should see the rest of the family. It's like Max, instant adoption. Maryse and Robert are going to go crazy when Cecily is born, two more babies plus Alexis to completely spoil the way they never did their own kids." He wasn't trying to be cruel to his adoptive parents, but it was true. Thomas cooed and poked Jace with the rattle again, something the child did when he seemed to recognize names.

"Alright, well I'll see you later than," Catarina said getting up to leave. "I'll come back to make a checkup?" Jace nodded and thanked her. "Remember," she said. "Magical exposure and activity, and developmental milestones are what you're to look for and pay attention to. Any problems call me or Magnus immediately." With that Catarina opened a portal and was gone.

A few days later Izzy was over again with Simon and her parents. Alexis was always happy to see people. When she saw Izzy, Maryse and Robert she squealed with delight and held her arms out to be picked up. Izzy scooped her up and she little girl giggled. Jace was in the living room with his daughter but Clary was in the kitchen with Thomas. She entered the room with the baby boy balanced on her hip. "He got excited when he heard everyone." Thomas was happily shaking the rattle and reaching his arms out for more people.

Maryse and Robert were of course here to see Thomas as Izzy had told them about his new sprouted angel wings. Thankfully she had covered for him and didn't tell that Jace and Clary already knew about them. Maryse scooped Thomas out of Clary's arms and she and Robert both looked at him up and down for the wings. Fortunately or unfortunately Thomas did not have his wings. The little baby was tipped on his head almost three times before Clary grabbed him back. Thomas did not like being upside down or moving too fast. He was rather sensitive to movement, particularly fast or disorienting. Clary said it was because he was a baby and still didn't have his full vision or motion sensing developed yet. Jace, however, couldn't remember Alexis being so sensitive. The little girl loved to be played with and she loved it more than anything else when Magnus magically levitated her.

Curiously enough after Thomas got resituated, being turned on his head was one of the few things the quite baby ever got particularly fussy about, he reached out for Robert to be held. Jace's adoptive father had a rather scruffy and untrimmed beard, different from his usually almost always clean shaven face. "Been busy lately?" Jace asked as Thomas curiously poked and felt Robert's face. Maryse looked furious at the favored attention. They were still at who's the better grandparent, vying for attention.

Robert took a few seconds to properly coo with the child to cement his favored status before answering Jace. "Clave's on an upstart with the fey again. They're paranoid about everything these days. It's ridiculous and annoying." Robert's deep voice seemed to entrance Thomas the baby suddenly grabbed his grandfather's nose, feeling around his face. Everyone had assumed this was how the baby showed affection, so Robert took the prodding with pride with Maryse continued to stare daggers at her husband.

"He doesn't appear to have wings." She commented angrily, giving Jace a look like he was trying to pull something on them. Jace wondered how often he did that as it was turning out to be a problem in a serious situation.

"Well he doesn't always have them, they come and go seemingly at random. His eyes will turn gold if you don't notice." Jace explained. Thomas proceeded to jab Robert in the eye, invoking a grunt from the man. Curiously Thomas grabbed Robert's nose again and felt at his prickly beard, babbling every now and then and shaking his rattle in Robert's ear. After evoking a few more grunts and coos from the man holding him while exploring his face like he'd never seen it before Thomas was eventually satisfied and reached for Maryse. Robert had no choice but to reluctantly hand the baby to his wife.

Maryse took him happily as Thomas felt her face before beginning to chew on her hair. Alexis looked over and saw the attention being showered on her new brother and squealed in protest. Robert gladly took her from Izzy and the little girl giggled tugging at his hair and too poked at her grandfather's scruff. "He's small," Maryse suddenly commented. "Small and very light. And quiet, Jace have you noticed this?" the silent part, yes. The small part not so much. Juggling two children, one who suddenly appeared about two weeks ago without any preparation distracted you from several things you might otherwise notice.

"No," Jace said bit sarcastically. "Between everything and the wings, it might not have crossed my mind yet. Do you think so?"

"Maybe it's so he can fly," suggested Izzy. "He has wings."

"You think he'll be able to fly?" Clary inquired reaching for her baby back. Maryse was about to blatantly walk away from Clary when Thomas turned and reached back for Clary, giving the grandmother no other choice. Thomas poked Clary's face before going back to shaking his rattle. It was at that moment that Thomas decided to sprout wings. Jace noticed the sudden flutter in the onesie the baby boy was in and took the child from his mother to show Maryse and Robert.

Again Thomas was thoroughly examined by both grandparents, as Alexis was returned to Izzy, and momentarily turned on his head to which the baby whined quite profusely in protest. "By the Angel, he does have wings!" Robert exclaimed. Thomas seemed rather ruffled by being turned upside down and almost seemed to glare at his grandparents in utter dislike. It amused Jace more that it probably should have.

After being returned to the comfortable coddle of the arms, Thomas settled down and shook his rattle in the examining way that he did. "You've had him checked?" Maryse asked like a good concerned grandmother.

"I had Catarina look at him a few days ago, Magnus and Alec will be over tomorrow and I'll have Magnus examine him. Catarina said he was fine, though wanted to do regular checkups just to monitor him. He hasn't exhibited any signs of magic yet though. Just the wings and the eye color change. And an odd fixation with the rattle." In response Thomas shook the rattle.

"He is quiet isn't he? Catarina thought it was fine though? Okay, I guess he's more like Alec and Max, quiet and observant. If it's any clue he's going to be wicked smart." Jace couldn't help but smile.

The rest of the day was spent playing on the floor with the kids. Izzy had more practice with bathing and changing dippers and attending to a crying child. It was mainly Alexis, Jace thought Thomas was unusually well behaved and silent. His wings went away after about fifteen minutes and didn't come back until after everyone finally left. Clary was feeding the kids when they popped out again.

Unlike Alexis, Thomas didn't like excessive amounts of attention. Too many people around him for an extended amount of time appeared to make him nervous and uncomfortable. It was part of how Jace finally convinced everyone to leave. Thomas had started to get rather upset about being constantly passed around despite the fact that Alexis was still conducting much of the attention to herself. When the baby boy had started to whimper, clinging to Jace when Maryse had tried to take him, Jace had promptly said the kids needed a nap and then pushed them all out the door before they could protest.

Thomas had very quickly calmed down after the commotion was gone, happily cuddling up in Jace's arms and poking his father's face lightly with the rattle. "Better now?" he asked the baby, kissing him on the forehead. Thomas giggled trying to grab at Jace's nose. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Time for your nap then," Clary had already put Alexis up while Jace calmed down Thomas. The baby coed in response, Jace decided to take that as an agreement.

Alexis was already sleeping soundly in Clary's arms. Thomas was about to join the club of sleeping children. Looking down Jace saw Thomas was already asleep. Clary smiled when she saw her two boys. "There you are," she whispered setting Alexis down in the crib. Jace laid Thomas down and kissed both his kids on the head. "You're such a good father," she mused, kissing her husband on the cheek.

"And you're a good mother," Jace responded wrapping his arms around his wife's waist. Clary grinned up at him and leaned in. If Simon had learned anything from Alec and Magnus and him and Clary it was that kids seriously reduced the lack of bedroom time. Jace bent his head down and kissed his wife on the lips.

With Alexis almost a year old they had started to consider having another child. That was pretty much out of the picture now with Thomas. Well that's what Jace thought. If Clary wanted kids that was her decision that Jace would be happy to oblige to. Their kiss was broken when Clary pulled back to yawn.

"Raziel, children take everything out of you," she said causing Jace to chuckle.

"So no more kids for a while?" Jace asked raising an eyebrow, knowing it would annoy his wife.

Surprisingly Clary sighed instead. "I don't know," she muttered. "I would really love to actually have another baby, but I'm not sure that would be the best idea. I'm not even sure we'd be up for it either." Jace nodded in agreement looking down at their babies. Alexis was having a dream, quietly mumbling and hugging her plush bunny Magnus had gotten her. Thomas was sleeping still as Jace had ever seen clutching the rattle he had claimed close to him.

"On your schedule," Jace agreed hugging his wife from behind.

"As long as it aligns with the Clave," the sarcastic comment slipped her lips causing her husband to tense. Clary knew she had made a mistake.

"I won't let them," Jace said stubbornly.

"Jace," Clary said cutting her husband off. "You know you can't do that. We knew this would happen."

"I won't let them, Clary," Jace repeated. "Robert won't let them-"

"Jace," Clary said seriously. "Robert can only do so much. The Clave is going to be pressuring us, they did with Alexis and they're already starting to again. Thomas isn't going to help, they might even try to give him to Magnus and Alec or someone else." She knew talking about that hurt her husband, but he couldn't just ignore something so big.

Both of them looked back down at their sleeping children. Jace would fight tooth and nail before he let anything happen to his family but he couldn't do anything if the Clave threatened another part of his family. Everyone had fallen in love with Thomas, but if it came down to it, regardless of how much anyone liked it, they'd probably agree faster to letting Catarina take him than something happening to Alexis, or Max or Rafe. It was horrible but true.

"Let's not think about that tonight," Jace grumbled tightening his hold on his wife. Clary nodded in agreement taking Jace's hand.

"Come on," she whispered pulling her husband towards the bed. Jace grinned and the both momentarily forgot the threat to their children.

"Jace, I cannot believe you," Alec said giving his parabatai a very disapproving look.

"I've heard the speech before, Alec, thank-you-very-much," Jace retorted crossing his arms. "I've gotten it from everyone, Izzy, Catarina, Maryse, Robert, You, and Magnus is going to give it to me in a second when you're finished." Alec just rolled his eyes.

"Jace, you knew Thomas was a warlock and you didn't tell anyone for like a month!"

Jace humphed indignantly, "It was only two weeks and why does everyone blame me? No one's given Clary the stink eye, while I on the other hand have gotten the same disappointed lecture from five different people!"

"Don't complain," Clary teasingly chided walking into the room with Alexis, followed by Rafe and Max who undoubtedly wanted to see the new baby with wings.

Thomas was currently being examined by Magnus while Alec scolded Jace like they were still children. Being scolded by Alec was similar to Catarina in the way it made him feel guilty and like he had disappointed someone he cared about. Maybe it was because he was off put by Catarina's blueness or that he'd never been scolded by her before, but Jace couldn't figure out why he felt guilty from her. He didn't particularly know her, just the weird story where she took care of his great-great uncle or something. Alec, however he actually knew and cared about. His older brother was like a second mother, disappointing Alec was not an option.

Magnus thankfully broke the silence by handing the little boy to Alec. "Catarina certainly didn't miss anything. I can't find the wings either and couldn't give you an explanation." Thomas had the wings when the first arrived so Jae could prove he wasn't lying yet again but shortly after Magnus took him to examine they went away and the warlock had spent a good ten minutes examining the boy with and without magic for the suddenly vanished wings while Jace got lectured by his disappointed parabatai. At least Magnus didn't turn Thomas on his head.

Jace didn't know why he was so protective about that. It wasn't like anyone would continue to hold the boy on his head after he started getting fussy, well they wouldn't if they knew better. Jace had never been worried about Alexis with children like Rafe and Max, but he was deathly paranoid about Rafe taking Thomas and tipping him on his head while the baby squealed.

Alec eagerly took Thomas to look over him too, after getting his own look over from the baby by getting his face poked and examined. Jace noticed his parabatai was starting to get a little scruffy, not as bad as Robert had been but Alec would probably want to shave that night. He guessed Magnus had grabbed his boyfriend and children and raced out the door when Izzy called and Catarina confirmed that Thomas did indeed have wings. Thomas seemed just as intrigued by Alec's as he had with Robert's prickly beard. Alec patiently waited as his nose was grabbed more than twice, a small grunt was invoked from him by and eye poke, and he was almost hit with the rattle. Only after the baby was satisfied did Alec hold the boy out to look for wings.

Unfortunately as Rafe and Max were in the room they eagerly wanted to see the new wings as well, which of course the baby didn't currently have. Alec kept their new baby cousin out of their reach even after he was finished looked, gently rocking Thomas in his arms. Rafe expectantly reached up, something he had learned with Alexis he could hold her. "No Rafe," Alec said softly, "He's smaller than Alexis, you didn't get to hold her until she was ten months." They didn't know how old Thomas was but he was definitely under six months.

Not understanding Rafe still reached up, going through the effort of going on his tip-toes. "Daddy, I want to hold our new baby brother," the statement caught everyone by surprise and momentarily caused Alec to fumble. Jace reached his hands out ready to catch his falling child.

"Where did you hear that?" he demanded trying not to sound too harsh at the little ten year old. Thankfully Rafe seemed mainly unaffected, too focused on trying to obtain Thomas. Jace sharpened his glare on Alec and Magnus who looked just as surprised.

"Abuelo was talking about it," Rafe said who was now joined by Max in begging to hold Thomas, both boys were oblivious to the tension in the room.

"What is he talking about?" Jace demanded and an embarrassed look flooded Alec's face.

"Mom and Dad came by after you kicked them out. I thought the boys were in bed," he said apologetically and shot his sons a look. "They were talking about Thomas being a warlock and apparently it's already spread to the Clave. Jace, they're listening on phone conversations now, I don't know how or from whom but they know about Thomas. Dad said they weren't too happy about it and he could easily see them trying to take Thomas away. He said they best he could probably do was get him transferred to us. I guess Rafe overheard and told Max." Jace felt his blood begin to boil and Clary quickly rushed over and handed him Alexis to calm him down. Alexis didn't understand what was going on, just that she wasn't getting very much attention.

"They already know? They're going to-they can't!" Jace's voice was laced with heartbreak. His worst nightmare was coming true. Alexis tugged on her dad's shirt for attention.

"I'm sorry Jace, you may not have a choice," Magnus said, it was one of the rare times Jace heard sympathy in the warlock's voice. Jace hugged his daughter closer, he couldn't imagine losing his son.

Thomas seemed to understand that something not good was being discussed and reached for his father. Jace handed Alexis to Max and Rafe momentarily settling them and took Thomas in his arms. Thomas poked Jace's face like usual and gripped his dad's shirt tight in a fist like he wasn't going to let go either. The act of the little boy didn't go unnoticed by the others and Jace could feel the sadness in the room.

"I won't let them take you," Jace whispered to the little boy cradling him close to his heart.

"Jace," Alec spoke timidly. "Jace, you know the Clave's going to expect an actual child form you and Clary soon. They're undoubtedly going to hold Thomas over your head." This time Alec's apologies went to Clary. Jace didn't even want to think about that.

"I don't know Jace," Clary whispered. "I mean it's not like it would be the end of the world if Thomas went with Alce and Magnus instead."

Jace under no circumstances, wanted to pressure Clary into anything and would singlehandedly fight the Clave before he did such a thing. It hurt, but Clary had already drawn a very clear line of her limits and Jace had to respect it, he also understood it, but it didn't ebb the pain.

"Jace please," Clary begged seeing the pain on her husband's face. "Please don't be that way. I know you don't want that to happen, none of us do, but it might. And at least Thomas would be going someone we know. I mean, Alec and Magnus could be the best we get. They could try to give him to someone we don't even know."

Jace let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Clary was right. They all knew they would have to face the Clave eventually. Jace just didn't think that taking Thomas away might even be something they would do. He thought they could present their own case and be given time, but know that the Clave was listening to phone conversations (who knew what else they were listening in on) Clary and Jace didn't have the chance to defend themselves. "Fine, fine you're right," Jace muttered. "You're right, it would be good if Thomas ended up with Alec and Magnus." He looked at his parabatai questioningly.

"We would take him," Alec agreed. "We were a little wary at taking another kid at first, but we've been discussing it. And Lily's surprisingly a very good babysitter, I'm sure we could convince her that another's not that bad?" the last part sounded like a question and Alec looked for reassurance in Magnus, who just shrugged in a very un-reassuring way.

Max and Rafe were done with Alexis, especially since Clary took her for a nap. Thomas didn't take naps like Alexis. He was much calmer and almost always seemed in-between a nap if he was being held (which was almost always, holding him was almost addicting, partially because he was so light) so he didn't need to be put down every other hour. Jace sat down and handed Thomas to his potentially new brothers. Max and Rafe knew from the gesture of Jace sitting down that they couldn't run off with Thomas, it was something they did with Alexis. Jace didn't know it Thomas was happy with new faces, Rafe and Max weren't usually allowed to hold him for extended periods of time, and Magnus and Alec left them at home most of the time, or they were given Alexis.

Rafe gently cradled Thomas in his arms, Max nuzzling up against his brother holding a finger out for Thomas to take. Rafe and Max both waited patiently as Thomas felt their face, seemingly especially interested in Max's horns. No, it wouldn't be the worst if Thomas went with Alec and Magnus. Thomas sprouted wings again and the intrigue doubled in both boys. Max waved his hand above Thomas's head and small sparks sprinkled down on the baby. Thomas, curiously enough, seemed uninterested in the sparks as they disappeared before they touched his face. Max and Rafe seemed just as confused as Alexis loved it.

Thomas reached up to grab at Max's horns. Max let him and Rafe handed the baby to his brother. The baby continued to investigate them, tugging and tapping them with his rattle while Max continued his patience letting the baby explore as he pleased. After Thomas was satisfied he settled down and let Max and Rafe explore him and look at his wings. The boys were gentle, stroking the feathery stubs and tickling him slightly. They would make good big brothers.

Max would have a younger brother to teach magic to, Rafe would have two little brothers to train. It almost seemed too perfect. Jace wanted to be okay with it, he wanted to love the idea of Thomas going to them but he couldn't. For some absurd reason Jace felt it was because he had found Thomas, like the little baby had been delivered specifically to him and Clary, which was ridiculous because Simon found Max.

Still, it was like Jace couldn't help but feeling jealous about the idea of someone else having his son. Jace didn't even know when he got so protective or territorial. It had just been two weeks.

Thomas had curled up in Max's arm and Rafe had wrapped his arm protectively around Max, it looked so fitting, they were already a family.

"Well maybe we should just wait it out and see what happens," Alec suggested and Jace wondered how much of his emotions his parabatai could currently feel. "You might could possibly convince them otherwise, or manage some sort of bargaining."

Magnus looped his arms around his boyfriend's waist, pulling him into a hug. "I think it's best we go, don't you say Alexander?" Alec nodded and leaned into his lover's touch. "Come on boys, give Jace and Clary back their child." Neither of them overly excited, Max got up and handed Thomas back to Clary, but not before he and Rafe kissed the boy gently on the head. The soft coo that was probably goodbye that came from Thomas's lips was adorable, everyone's heart melted in that second and Jace thought maybe he would be okay with Thomas going with Alec and Magnus.

Clary handed Thomas to Jace as Alec and his family walked through the portal back to the flat. The small blonde haired warlock boy seemed happy to be back in what he already recognized was his father's embrace. Jace gently rocked the small boy in his arms. Clary gently clutched Jace's arm and looked down at the baby boy who was slowly falling asleep.

"Jace," she said softly, "Jace, are you still mad at me?"

Jace turned to look at her in shock. "Mad at you? Clary I'm not mad at you, I understand, I really do and I'm not mad at you for it. I'm mad at the Clave, that now we don't even have the chance to defend ourselves or present our case."

"I know," Clary said softly, "trust me when I say that I don't want to give up Thomas either, he's so sweet and good, and it's like there's an instant magnetic attraction pulling you to him. I don't know how his mundane parents could have abandoned him like that." In response Thomas yawned and they both smiled.

"I think it's time for bed," Jace announced and the two headed up the stairs. Alexis was up and slightly grumpy, impatiently waiting to be fed. Clary decided to feed Thomas too and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he came out, both of his kids were sitting on the bed with their mother. Jace smiled and walked over to scoop Alexis into his arms.

"Someone wants to sleep with Mommy and Daddy tonight," Clary said smiling.

"Sleepover it is," Jace said amused getting under the covers. Both children seemed extremely happy about their turn of events. They all snuggled in and fell asleep together.

The Clave meeting was sooner than expected. It was only May before Jace and Clary were called to Idris. It seemed like every shadowhunter had come to Alicante to hear to ruling of the trial. It definitely seemed like they had all squeezed themselves into the meeting room.

Jia sat in the Consul's seat, waiting like a teacher for all her students to stop talking before she even attempted to speak. Of course everyone had come to support Jace and Clary. Robert was sitting in the Inquisitor's seat and he and Maryse seemed to be communicating telepathically in a way that she was very boldly telling him to make sure all went well. Izzy sat with Simon and Alec and Maagnus. Jocelyn and Luke had come, and even Bat and Maia who had dragged a supposedly protestant Lily along.

The Cohort was also unfortunately in attendance as well, claiming that Jace and Clary had been around too much with Alec and his dirty downworld tolerance had rubbed off on them. A pure shadowhunter couple adopting a warlock baby was no less than a blasphemous abomination. It was filthy that Alec was with Magnus and they were raising a shadowhunter child, and that Aline and Helen were a couple and that Helen and Mark even existed.

Jace knew Jia wanted to be on their side, but she had barely managed to gently exile her daughter and her wife to Wrangle Island. It was practically guaranteed she would have little to no persuasion power.

The Cohort wasn't alone either. Yes they were extreme and although not everyone thought the new warlock baby with mysterious warlock's mark should be cast off a building, it was almost unanimously agreed that his oddity should be observed and Clary and Jace should definitely not be allowed to adopt him.

"Silence!" Jia yelled, calling attention to herself and momentarily bringing silence to the room. "I assume you all know the reason we are here today. Jace Herondale and Clarissa Fairchild-Herondale request permission to adopt a warlock child they found-" she wasn't allowed to finish before someone, Dearborn, interrupted her. Dearborn was the head of the Cohort.

"They shouldn't even consider adopting that thing! The Lightwoods have made them soft! Remember the last time a shadowhunter family adopted a warlock?!" Dearborn jibed jumping up from his seat, and Jace felt his blood boil. The nasty scum had no right to bring Malcolm as leverage.

"Order! I will have order!" Jia cried. "Dearborn one more outcry like that and I will have you and your Cohort removed!" Dearborn pursed his lips and sat down. Unfortunately the damage was already done. The whole room erupted in outrage, even to the people who should have been more sensible had been affected.

"Think of your daughter!" Someone cried, Jace didn't bother to see who it was.

"He'll turn on us all!" another yelled.

"Filthy warlock! Shouldn't even be allowed to have this debate!"

"It doesn't even have a proper mark!"

The yells kept coming and they got worse and worse.

"By the Angel SILENCE!" Jia yelled, again quieting the room. "We haven't even gotten five minutes into the actual discussion of the issue and there's already a riot!"

An eerie silence fell over the room, tension still thick enough to it was practically physical.

"We will allow Jonathan and Clarissa to present their defense and _I_ will decide the guardianship of the warlock child." There was a grumble around the room and Jace half expected the yelling to start back up, but the deadly look on Jia's face forced everyone to bite their tongue.

The trial was long and tedious, Jia often had to call for silence over the protest of the Cohort. She never managed to kick them out. Jace and Clary presented their defense that they had already adopted Thomas and everyone else presented their fondness of the baby warlock, even Jocelyn who surprisingly offered to be a guardian if need be.

Unsurprisingly the biggest concern that didn't involve the Cohort was Jace and Clary's willingness to have another baby themselves with the adopted baby warlock. It pained them both to admit they probably wouldn't have another child for at least another year if they kept Thomas, Jace would see they were already condemned and hoped Jia allowed Alec and Magnus or Luke and Jocelyn to take Thomas.

It was late in the evening and everyone was impatient and hungry when the verdict was finally decided. Jace new he and Clary weren't going to be allowed to adopt Thomas, he could see it on Jia's face. At least the baby was going to Magnus and Alec. Max and Rafe were going to be so excited.

"It has been decided that Jonathan and Clarissa may not adopt the warlock child they found…" Jia began, Jace let out a sigh of disappointment. He still couldn't help but hope. "And custody of the child shall go to Catarina Loss."

Jace wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the room got whiplash because he almost did. He didn't expect Catarina to receive Thomas. If Catarina was surprised she did a good job of masking it. She stood up and steadily walked over to Jace and Clary and held her arms out for Thomas. Clary stared at the Catarina like she was blue (which she was) and handed Thomas to his new guardian.

The little baby who didn't know what was going on, giggled happily and poked at Catarina's face like he did, tugging lightly on her hair. "Yeah," Catarina cooed, cradling the baby in her arms. "You're coming home with me."

She was the only one speaking as everyone, even the Cohort, was too shocked to speak. It wasn't until Catarina had left for a good five minutes when someone spoke. "I didn't expect that," Magnus said walking over to Jace and Clary who were still staring in the area where Catarina had portaled away.

"She's going to let us see him again right?" Jace asked dumbly, getting an eye roll response from Magnus.

"No, she's going to go into hiding with him and you're never going to see him again." Magnus said sarcastically. The horrified look on Jace's face told him it went over the blonde's head. "I'm kidding Jace, of course she's going to let you see him. Calm down, it's not the second coming of Sebastian."

"Magnus she just took our child and walked off with him!" Jace exclaimed. "She just… walked off like it was nothing!"

"Okay, now he's yours to deal with," Magnus announced to Clary, going back to Alec (who looked equally as shocked) muttering something under his breath, probably about breaking the news to Max and Rafe that they weren't going to get a baby brother like everyone thought.

Clary and Jace portaled home without really talking to anyone. Maryse and Robert had agreed to watch the children for everyone so Jace expected to come home to a completely empty Institute which was why he was surprised to see Catarina Loss in the kitchen rocking Thomas in her arms.

"What are you doing here?" Jace asked dumbfounded, today had been too much for him.

Catarina looked at him exasperated and got up, handing him the giggling baby. "Giving him to his nannies." She said like it was obvious.

"But you're his guardian now…" Clary said. "…And you've raised a child before."

"Yes, but that was under different circumstances." Catarina explained. "Now I'm a very busy nurse who has no time for raising a child. So as his legal guardian, I'm hiring a nanny, or in this case nannies, whom I trust to love the child, to care for him."

"You can't do that… can you?" Jace asked. "I mean, when the Clave finds out they're not going to be happy."

Catarina rolled her eyes. "Do you want the baby or not?" she asked. "The Clave won't notice if I keep him over the weekends and you trade him out with Alec and Magnus, and Simon and Izzy. I must be going now, I've been away from the hospital for much too long. Mundanes are such a fragile creature. And I'm not actually paying you. Goodbye." And just like in Idris, Catarina opened a portal and walked out the room.

Also like in Idris, Clary and Jace started at the exact spot for a minute and a half. "I guess we get to keep him after all." Clary said eventually, taking Thomas from her husband. "Well, that worked out better than we could expect."

"Daa-ya!" Thomas protested against Clary who laughed and kissed him on the forehead.

"You're my little baby," she coed, looking back at Jace who still looked startled. "Jace," she said. "Someone wants you."

Jace shook his head and took Thomas back. "This is good now, but the Clave is going to expect another kid." Jace pointed out, gently bouncing the baby warlock.

"We'll burn that bridge when we get there." Clary reassured him, kissing his cheek also providing no explanation to what she just said which made no sense to Jace at all. "I'm going to call Simon and Izzy and tell them, call Alec and Magnus if they don't already know."

Jace looked down at Thomas who was trying to poke him in the eye. "You don't know how much anxiety you cause me these last eighteen hours." He said to the baby, holding him close. "I love you so much, you'll learn that eventually." Jace pulled out his phone and called Alec, standing in the kitchen holding his baby boy in his arms again.


End file.
